Chess: Don’t panic

The proliferation of short draws in the recently concluded World Championship match has led to some hysterical proposals to adjust the format which decides the supreme title in chess. For the record, Viswanathan Anand of India, the defending champion, retained his title against Boris Gelfand of Israel with ten draws and one win each in the main contest, which was followed by four rapid-play games to break the tie. In the rapid-play games, Anand emerged triumphant with one win and three draws.

Many of the draws were of scant interest and minimal duration. That said, over 100 million internet viewers tuned in to watch the one-day play-off. In spite of this, various eminent commentators have suggested ideas to provoke more combative play in the main part of the match. One suggestion is to ban draws before move 30, while another alarmist solution which has been mooted is to introduce Fischerrandom, or varied baseline chess, to cut out opening theory.